Wildlife Management Practices

Monitoring Wildlife Populations: Wildlife managers continuously monitor the birth rate and death rate of various species and the condition of their habitat. This provides the data needed to set hunting regulations and determine if other wildlife management practices are needed to conserve wildlife species.

Suppose each adult pair of waterfowl produces six young each year and none of the factors that limit wildlife production are active. At the end of the fifth year, the initial pair will have grown to more than 2,000 waterfowl.

Habitat Improvement: As succession occurs,
the change in habitat affects the type and number of wildlife the habitat can support. Wildlife managers may cut down or burn forested areas to promote new growth and slow down the process of succession. This practice enables them to increase the production of certain wildlife species.

Hunting: Hunting is an effective wildlife management tool. Hunting practices help managers keep animal populations in balance with their habitat.

Predator Control: In rare instances, predators must be reduced to enable some wildlife populations to establish stable populations,
particularly threatened or endangered species.

Artificial Stocking: Restocking of game animals has been successful in many parts of the nation. An example of restocking is trapping animals in areas where they are abundant and releasing them in areas of suitable habitat where they are not abundant.

Controlling or Preventing Disease and Its Spread: Disease can have a devastating effect on wildlife. Avian cholera, for example, poses a serious threat, especially to ducks and geese on crowded wintering grounds. Once avian cholera occurs, managers must work to prevent its spread by gathering and burning waterfowl carcasses daily.

Management Funds/Programs: In addition to Pittman-Robertson funds, many states have initiated programs that help finance conservation efforts.

Glossary

birth rate

The ratio of number of young born to females of a species to total population of that species over one year

death rate

The ratio of number of deaths in a species to total population of that species spanning one year

predator

An animal that kills other animals for food

succession

Natural progression of vegetation and wildlife populations in an area; for example, as trees grow and form a canopy, shrubs and grasses will disappear along with the wildlife that use them as cover